Stash Report Week #22 and 15 Minutes

It was a good week!  8 more masks are finished, bringing the total to 64, and I’ve already cut out the 8 for next week.  I sent off another 1/4 yard for my goddaughter for a mask.  Where do you stand on shopping in the current pandemic?  I’m thinking I may need some more batiks for masks eventually, especially if I need to make several for each kid for school.  So... do I order now, knowing it will take up to a month for them to arrive, or so I just keep sewing for now, and run the risk of not getting the fabric in time later, or will it all be fine by July?

Today, I quilted Spunky’s bee quilt, so I will have some nice stash movement at the end of this week too.  It’s going to take longer to finish the 16 patch quilt (it’s enormous).

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 2 1/4 yards

IN YTD: 34 1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 71 1/2 yards
YTD Total: 37 1/2 yards OUT

On the 15 minute front, I was very pleased to count up the remaining blocks.  After today’s hand quilting, I have only 15 blocks left!  Maybe in two weeks I’ll have another finish, and that one will be a whopper.  I’ve quilted 144/151 days this year.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,
katie z.

Summer’s First Week

The first week for summer has been full!  The garden is fully planted, partially mulched, and meat chickens are getting fat on grass.  With all the rain, the weeds are in abundance, but never has our garden looked so well-kept at the beginning of summer.

The Assistant competed, via Zoom, at the state level for the Optimist Oratorical Contest after winning at the local club.  We had no idea she would compete against four students four years older than her!  She just graduated from 8th grade, and the other kids were finished with high school or going into their senior year.  She did not win, but given our technological disasters, she kept her cool and did great.  I am so proud of her!

I caught up on my mending.  Oh, mending, my least liked sewing chore.  I repaired/hemmed four pairs of pants for DH.  That’s done again for a while.  I also whipped out 8 masks.  I’ve already had a request for two of them, so it’s good I’m still making them.

Now, the good stuff.  I had a good week of sewing.  I have 54 Garden Party posies finished, so only 46 to go.

I am super excited to have the bee quilt basted.  Next week, I’m going to quilt and finish it.  It just wasn’t in the cards this week.

My one row of the temperature quilt for the month was a breeze.  The colors are definitely creeping up!

With much wrestling of bulk and stabbing of pins, I finally have my 16 patches into a flimsy!   I am not looking forward to the ridiculousness of quilting this beast, but I am looking forward to checking it off my list.  I even have the remaining blocks counted, a few extra cut out, and plans to make a baby/toddler quilt to use up every. last. one.

Today, after all the other sewing obligations were done, I had plenty of time to make more foxes.  Aren’t they pretty?  And Joyful so kindly sent me some orange scraps, so I get to cut out a few more before I’m done.  I think all the blocks will be made up by the end of June.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,
katie z.

P.S. I link up each Saturday to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  We’ll be sewing with pink next!

May UFO Report

I really and truly remembered to start my monthly summary blog posts before the end of the month.  Woohoo!

This month, the only start and finished was a cushion cover for our front porch.  I did, today, do my mending of four pairs of pants, but I don’t ever count mending as a UFO.

1. Pillow
2. Scrappy DWR
3. ABC appliqué
4. King sized 16 patch
5. Hand pieced hexagons
6. Irish chain
7. Courtyard steps
8. Temperature quilt

9. Fox quilt

10. Bee quilt

May 1: 10 projects

Started: 1

Finished: 1

May 31: 10 projects

I have high hopes of finishing 3 (3!) quilts in June.  I’d better get cracking!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

Stash Report Weeks 20-21 and 15 Minutes

Time escaped me last week.  I knew I needed to write this post, but I just didn’t get it done.  There were no stash changes last week.  This week, my Connecting Threads order finally arrived.  I will sum it up as disappointing: the red fabric was distinctly pink, I’d waited so long for the yellow fabric that I’d made new choices, and the blue ombré looked nothing like what I was hoping.  I’ll just have to make other choices for the red fabric, and I’ll  move along with life!  I did finish 4 masks this week, but I clearly have some work to do to get back to 40 yards out.  I’m definitely beginning to see gaps and empty spaces in my stash, so this is good!

IN this week: 7 yards
OUT this week: 1 yard

IN YTD: 34 1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 69 1/4 yards
YTD Total: 35 yards OUT

I’m a hand quilting hustler these days.  I missed one day last week, with the insanity of school, etc., but I quilted every day this week.  In fact, I finished 14 squares in two weeks, which is a record of some sort.  If I keep that up, I will certainly finish my quilt before the end of June.  We have another week of rain forecasted, so maybe I can get 7-10 done this week instead of my usual goal of 5.

Whatever I get done, it’s time to get off this screen and get on with doing!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,
katie z.

Getting Focused

I’m about 95% sure we’re done for the school year!  I still am waiting for an email or something to tell us officially, but we’ve turned in all our work and I don’t see any missing assignments.  Whew!

(I’m already mulling over next year.  If you’ve seen the CDC suggestions for schools, they’re doozies.  Several of my kids would not function well flopping between home and school for weeks/days at a time, so we are pondering homeschool for one or two of them for next year.  And if we need masks every day... I’ll be making more masks every week now.  My goals is 8 a week, to donate, sell, or for my family.)

I need to get back to my lists for the day.  It would help the kids understand what they/I need to get done each day, and I would feel like I actually accomplished things (I know I do... they just get undone so quickly!).  Yesterday, my list also kept me off my iPad and doing things I wanted and needed to do.  Hopefully we can stay focused for the next 12 weeks.  Our pastor so nicely reminded us at the closing school Mass over Facebook that he would see us in 12 weeks.  Yikes!

Three quilts are rapidly approaching the finishing stages: my Irish chain, this bee quilt flimsy, and my 16 patches.  I now have only 27 blocks left to hand quilt.  It’s going to be so pretty on my bed!

The bee quilt will get basted this week and maybe (maybe) quilted.  Spunky planned the layout.  It’s very cheerful, and she will love giving it to her friend when it’s done.

My 16 patches are now in nine sections.  I hope to have them to flimsy stage next week, and the backing and batting are already ready.

My Garden Party posies are slow going.  Between the masks and all my other sewing, everything gets used as a leader and ended at some time, and none of it goes very fast.  That’s another reason I’ll be glad to finish off the three quilts.  There are projects everywhere!

I think I finally have my mask pattern where I want it.  Cutting it is fiddly, but I have a single adjustable cord and no funky pockets to sew.  On I go!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,
katie z.

P.S.  Check out the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this weekend!

Rainbow Scrap Challenge: Growing Things

Four more days of school remain (whew!).

Today has already been quite full... grocery pickup, a visit to the farmer’s market that was disappointing, mud from all the rain, and the ever present “best decisions based on the information we have right now.”  We will be having friends over for the first time in months, as we are both staying home but they won’t be able to for much longer.  It will be nice to visit, and for the kids to play.

Sewing is hit or miss lately with all the craziness, but I have made progress.  The bee blocks are finished, and I’m in the process of webbing them.  I have the 16 patches slowly working themselves into big chunks.  Finishing quilts is always nice.  It feels good to finish something that stays finished, so I eager to finish the bee quilt or the 16 patches soon.

There are a few dark green posies on the ironing board as my leaders and enders, so I am sewing with greens (just barely!).

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,
katie z.

P.S. Visit the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for inspiration!

Stash Report Week #19 and 15 Minutes

Last week began with requests for 19 masks.  Fortunately, I had seven masks that fit the requests, but I still made 12 masks.  My total is now 52 masks made.  I also finished off my 5th spool for the year.

IN this week: 0 yards
OUT this week: 3 yards

IN YTD: 27 1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 68 1/4 yards
YTD Total: 41 yards OUT

I’m back to my goal of 40 yards out for the year.

My 15 minutes a day of hand quilting went really well this week.  I finished 6 blocks!  I’m very much looking forward to crossing the halfway mark of quilting the diamond blocks, which is really 3/4 of the way hand quilting the entire quilt.  I know once it feels “all downhill from here,” I’ll find more time to stitch extra.  Today, I actually fit into two blocks since we started to listening to an audio book together tonight.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,
katie z. 

Keep On Keepin’ On

Two more weeks of school... We might cross the finish line on tire rims and fumes, but cross it we will.  I also received several masks orders, for a total of 19, so those were my primary sewing projects for the week.

I finished one lonely Garden Party Posy and two courtyard steps block (not in green, but I don’t have any dark green in this fabric!).

The foxes and bee blocks are ever expanding.  I’m looking forward to getting one or the other into a flimsy and getting a quilt finished for the first time in quite a while!

I wanted write something clever or pithy or interesting, but I’m afraid I’m sleep deprived enough that I mostly can compose negative complaints.  We are all well, but the late to bed and early to rise is hard on my brain!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,
katie z.

P.S. Please visit all the other green bloggers this weekend!

April UFO Report

April saw two new quilts, one made from bee fabric leftovers, in collaboration with Spunky.  We’re working on it steadily.  The second is my fox quilt for BJ, which is also seeing nice progress.

1. Pillow
2. Scrappy DWR
3. ABC appliqué
4. King sized 16 patch
5. Hand pieced hexagons
6. Irish chain
7. Courtyard steps
8. Temperature quilt

9. Fox quilt

10. Bee quilt

April 1: 8 projects

Started: 2

Finished: 0

April 30: 10 projects

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,

katie z.

April Block Count

April is over... With it went another 30 days of isolation.  You’d think, wouldn’t you, that isolation from society at large would mean plenty of new blocks.  That would be the wrong assumption, however, as my darling little people kept me busy with online school, more meals than an human should consume, and lovely hours together.  I’m only being a tiny bit sarcastic, as I am so grateful we are well, safe, and together.

This month saw plenty of blocks, in disparate projects...
21 bee fabric blocks
27 foxes
3 courtyard steps
10 Garden Party blocks
48 temperature blocks
...for a total of 109 blocks in April and 361 blocks for 2020.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,
katie z.

Stash Report Week #18 and 15 Minutes

Stash report week 18, Covid-19 quarantine week 7, and I’m still sewing away.  Four more masks sewn, four spoons of thread gone, more fabric out and more fabric in!

I ordered from the Missouri Star Quilt Co. for the first time, only precuts so it would ship faster, and it came Saturday.  I have more orange strips, some glow in the dark fabrics, and more bee fabrics.

IN this week: 8 1/2 yards
OUT this week: 1 1/4 yards

IN YTD: 27 1/4 yards
OUT YTD: 65 1/4 yards
YTD Total: 38 yards OUT

I guess I need to use two more yards to get back to my goal for the year!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,
katie z.

Making Progress

I continue to be grateful that we have plenty of outdoor space for the kids (and myself) as we roll into week 8 of staying at home.  My 7 year old with ASD had his first sleepover at my mom’s and found all the cars on the road to be very confusing.  He thought nobody was going anywhere.  Then he assumed that meant all the stores were open, and he was very sad when my mom told him the train store wasn’t open, so she couldn’t take him there.  Poor dude.  It confuses me too.  (We see my parents since they come out to garden with me, so we are careful to avoid other contact.)

I continue to find the uncertainties of the future to challenge my motivation to get things done.  I really like goals, plans, and checklists.  Hard to do when we have no idea what next week looks like, when the state begins to reopen.  We have three weeks of online school left, and I think we’ll have a party when it’s over.

The foxes are multiplying, and I still like them.  More orange fabric will arrive today (fingers crossed), and I’m looking forward to it.  The solids get a little boring.

Spunky doesn’t know it yet, but the bee blocks are going to have to come down for a while.  We’ve run out of room for two quilts on the wall!

Finally, the temperature quilt grew two rows this month.  I like it!

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,
katie z.

P.S. The scrappy color range for May is the darker greens.  I need to pull some out!

May Goals

In April, I hoped to...
1.  Spend 15 minutes a day or (dare I say) one block a day hand quilting.  We’re home, it’s off the frame so my back is less bothered, and I need work to keep me off screens.  I did pretty well, only missing a few days.

2.  Scraps of unknown color: trim, courtyard steps, Garden Party posies, and maybe more 16 patch sewing?  Blues, all done, but for 16 patches.

3.  Temperature Quilt: finish another row and sew them together.  Almost 2 rows done (4 days to go)

4.  Fox quilt.  I dunno.  Cut, sew, make something that gets me off the screens!  20+ done

In May, my plans are...
1.  Keep up the hand stitching.  A block a day is not happening, but 16 or so a month is attainable.

2.  Scraps in dark green: trim, courtyard steps, Garden Party posies, and maybe some 16 patches.

3. Temperature quilt: one more row.

4.  Fox quilt: many, many more blocks!

5.  A cushion for the front porch.

6.  Probably masks.

from the room of Zana’s Ninis,
katie z.